


Family Secrets

by Cate98



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Brecon Beacons, Dad - Freeform, Family, Gen, Secret Intelligence Service | MI6, Secrets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-02
Updated: 2013-09-21
Packaged: 2017-12-17 11:56:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/867252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cate98/pseuds/Cate98
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex makes a discovery that will change his life forever. Maybe being sent to Brecon Beacons was a good thing after all, otherwise he might not have found his family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Truth

Prologue

John Rider sat at his desk at home, scribbling furiously. Outside the door, he could hear his wife dragging their luggage down the hall and to the front door. The cries of his young son, Alex, who was only a year old, could also be heard from the desk. Alex was suffering from an ear infection, and was unable to go with John and his wife, Helen, on their trip. He would stay with his uncle until they got back.

The slam of the front door made John jump.

"John, Helen, I'm here for Alex!" Ian, John's brother, shouted up the stairs. Helen rushed down the stairs to greet him. John signed the paper he'd been writing on and shoved it into a manila envelope. He left the office and went to meet Ian.

At the foot of the stairs Helen was handing Alex and his bag to Ian. "Be very careful with Alex, he's delicate," Helen said in a very serious tone. Ian looked overwhelmed by the motherly protection.

Helen grabbed her bags and pulled them out the door. She looked at John when he finally arrived. "Hurry up, John, or we'll miss the flight," she said.

John, with one last glance at his home, grabbed his bag and shoved the manila envelope into Ian's only free hand.

"Just don't drop him."

Ian's POV

Ian pulled up to a large suburban house. Alex was crying next to him in his recently installed high chair. Getting out of the car and opening the other door to get Alex out of his high chair, he noticed a wrinkled manila folder. Well, that explained why his seat as so uncomfortable. Ian had almost forgotten about it, and had he not noticed then, it probably would have fallen to the floor and been considered trash, never to be seen again except by a woman who helped pull cardboard out of recycling repositories. He grabbed it, not thinking much of it, and walked up the driveway and into his house, throwing the folder on the kitchen table and carrying Alex down the hall and into his room.

Once Ian felt Alex had settled in (a crib had been moved into the household beforehand), he walked into the kitchen, intent on getting something to eat. Leftover lasagna, perhaps. Those colorful noodles were also easy to make. Deciding that lasagna was easier to just heat up, Ian decided to go with that. This was when he noticed the folder still on the counter top. He ignored it once again, in favor of food. The folder couldn't possibly be that important, or at least not enough to disrupt his food eating, right?Deeming it okay to read and eat at the same time, Ian decided to open the folder.

It was a perfectly normal day. Ian had often taken Alex before, as his parents were often away on important "business trips." Ian knew from experience that Alex was normally a very quiet baby, and Ian's sleep was almost never disturbed by Alex.

Ian opened the folder. Alex started to cry in the other room.

Chapter 1 The Truth

It's almost time to leave. The black taxi sits outside, waiting for me. Sitting alone, in this big, empty house, I've never felt more devoid of feeling, of anything really, since Jack left after Ian's death.

"It's too hard for me. I am going back home to Washington. Besides, this isn't my home anymore, not with Ian gone." she said this just before getting in a cab and driving off.

I stand up, ignoring the honking of the horn outside, and go to grab my hoodie from the hall closet; I notice a manila envelope lying in the back, covered in dust. I begin to open it, but before I can the driver honks the horn of the cab again; loudly.

"Hurry up, we haven't got all day kid!" he calls out irritably. I stuff the envelope into my backpack and run out the door.

Sitting alone in the back of the cab, I begin to think about the last two weeks of my life. I wish I knew when everything started going wrong.

*****Flashback*****

Being woken up at two in the morning by the doorbell was not how I expected my day to start, but that's how the destruction of my whole world began. An hour after Jack answered the door, she came up to my room. Opening my bedroom door and letting the light from the hall brighten my dark room, she sat down on my bed.

"That was the police. Alex, I'm sorry but Ian was killed in a car accident. They police are saying that he wasn't wearing his seat belt, when the accident occurred. There wasn't anything that the paramedics could do to save him." Jack wraps me in a tight hug and whispers that everything will be okay, and for the first time in a long time, I allow myself to cry.

The next couple days pass in a blur; I am just going through the motions of things but never actually stopping to take a breath. The funeral was depressing. There were only a few people who made it and I didn't even know them.

Two days after, I discovered Ian's real job, a spy for MI6, I was told through a letter with MI6's letterhead that I was going to be sent for training at a military camp called Brecon Beacons before having to complete a mission of my own. Jack told me that she felt it was best if she left and went back home to her family in Washington. Never have I felt so alone as I did then. Watching Jack drive off in the cab only intensified the feeling of being truly alone with no family for the first time.

*****End of Flashback*****

"We're here kid." The cab driver's voice brings me out of my thoughts. I climb out of the cab and get my bags from the trunk of the cab. I begin trudging through the rain and mud to what I think is the sergeant's cabin. Knocking on the door to the cabin I let myself take in the surroundings. There are many cabins and buildings placed strategically around the area, I can see a murky lake in the distance, an obstacle course takes up a majority of the west side of the camp, and woods surround the camp on two sides. A tall, bulky man opens the door and frowns down at me. He ushers me in to his office and then proceeds to yell obscene remarks at me as I stand before. Tuning his rant out of my mind I begin to think of what was going to happen to me during my stay here, and what the envelope contained. Suddenly I hear the sergeant yelling at me to leave and find K-unit. Deciding that it wouldn't be s good idea to get on the Sergeant's bad side on my first day, I go and find K-unit.

Less than fifteen minutes after meeting the unit I can tell I am not welcome here. I have been given the code name Cub for my stay at Brecon Beacons. Wolf, the unit leader, has been the most vocal about his dislike for me. Right now he is cleaning his gun on his bed and every few minutes he makes sure to glare at me. Eagle is the Weapons specialist in K-unit and is playing cards with Fox and Snake. Fox's place in K-unit is the linguist and Snake is the unit medic and so far the kindest to me.

I reach into my duffel and grab the manila envelope. I start pulling the papers out and find a letter addressed to Ian, which has already been opened. I am in the process of unfolding the letter when I hear Eagle call out "Whatcha got there Cubby? Is that a letter from your mummy and daddy?"

I ignore Eagle but stash the envelope back into my bag to read later. I pull out a book I have to read for school begin reading, but Fox yells at me to turn my flashlight off. I guess it will have to wait till morning if I want to attempt to stay on someone's nonlethal side.

*****The Next Morning*****

I wake to the feeling of someone shaking me rather violently. Before I can realize what I've done, I have the person's arms pinned behind their back and their chest lying on the spot where I had been on my bed. Looking down I notice that it is Eagle pinned down.

"Sorry, I didn't even realize what I was doing." I mumble, glancing away, slightly ashamed.

"Where the hell did you learn to do that kid?" Wolf barks at me. Suddenly remembering my hold on the wriggling Eagle, I let go. Ignoring Wolf's question I begin to get ready for my first day in hell. Today we will be in languages until lunch and then hand-to-hand combat afterwards.

Wolf is now glaring at me for ignoring his question. Curious glances are thrown my way from the rest of K-unit as we make our way to the mess hall for breakfast. Once there I begin to get strange looks from the rest of the soldiers in the camp as well. I can hear them whispering about me, trying to figure why a kid has been placed in a military camp. Keeping quiet after I have finished the meal, I wait for K-unit and we begin our trek to the language classroom.

As soon as we are there the teacher begins to ask me to speak in Spanish I do and this only agitates him more. The same occurred with French, Japanese, German, and Mandarin. By this time the other soldiers in the room are stunned and the teacher was furious that I had actually been capable of fluently speaking in multiple languages. Knowing that he had meant to embarrass me and prove that I wasn't meant to be here. It makes me feel good that I proved him wrong, in languages anyway.

After lunch we head to the combat training building and are paired up with partners to fight. The teacher, curious to see if I can actually fight, pairs me up with Snake, the weakest at combat in K-unit. Snake and I stand facing each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Snake starts off by throwing a punch towards me which I easily duck. I kick my foot out in a fanning motion and hit Snake's legs hard enough that he stumbles and I follow it up with a jab to the chest which causes him to fall. It seems he was caught off guard by that move. Noticing that he has had the breath knocked out of him, I wait to see what his next move will be.

His next move is to do nothing. He just lays there on the ground, wheezing. I don't know what's wrong. He slowly pushes himself up and clutches at his side. I stand there and stare as he slowly limps toward our instructor and mumbles something. The instructor nods his head and stares at me and as Snake goes and sits on one of the benches that are on the side of the padded floor. I have no idea what has happened.

The instructor is still looking at me as he calls out, "Wolf." Wolf snaps to attention from the other side of the floor, where he's been busy practicing with Fox. "Yes, sir?" The instructor lets his attention be drawn away from me and towards Wolf. "Come over and have a nice little spar with Cub." I can see the suspicious look in Wolf's eye, but he now has on a smirk. I can tell he doesn't think very much of my fighting ability. I also don't think he was watching me when I was sparring with Snake, maybe if he had he would take me more seriously.

We are standing about four feet apart, facing each other. We bow, keeping our eyes locked. Wolves, by nature, are very flexible, very fast, and very strong. I understand now, how Wolf earned his name. He was good. Amazing, even. I keep losing his position, his blows are coming from all directions. I can feel myself starting to panic as my instincts start to surface. I try to calm down but I can't. As I feel him closing in on me, my instincts take over and adrenaline rushes through me as I begin to panic.

I can see his movements clearly now. He tries to punch my left, I block on the left. He tries to uppercut me, I downward block. He tries to roundhouse kick me? Easy. I fight back. And I was fighting. He was losing. The opponent would fail. The opponent needed to be defeated.

I was close consecutively kicking and punching. Which may seem like an obvious and easy tactic, but it is harder if you switch it up a bit, not allowing yourself to get in a habit. It was working. I was pushing this opponent backwards and I could practically feel him starting to panic. I got a bit fancier in my movements, starting putting things that had a bit more power in them. The reason people twirl in movies, before the kick, is to gain momentum. Momentum is increasing the force. Putting added force on this opponent was a good idea, as it was muscular, and muscles tend to add a bit of a shield to any body part. But I was elbowing him in the stomach, by this point.

All I have to do is defeat him. He was staggering by now. One more kick ought to do it. So I jumped, and I kicked. He stumbled back and fell. Hard. My body isn't listening to my mind telling it to stop. I continue fighting and Wolf is barely able to defend himself at this point.

I could feel the hands on me now, dragging me away from the person and pinning me to the floor. I was dizzy. What had just happened? I couldn't see out of the splotches covering my eyes. I waited for them to clear away. In place of the spots was... Snake?

Snake was hovering over me, he was the one pinning me to the floor. I creased my eyebrows in confusion. I opened my mouth only to get a sharp burst of pain that I might have winced at a little. My lip is busted. I didn't remember that happening. "Snake" ,I asked, ignoring the pain in my lip. He raised an eyebrow, apparently surprised for some reason that I didn't know of. "Cub? You good?" I was sure of how to respond. I felt fine, sure, but I couldn't remember anything from the last (I had to glance at the clock that was just visible over Snake's right shoulder) seven minutes? I also notice that there's only about five minutes of combat training left.

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay." I respond, even though I'm not sure if I'm even alright. Snake gives me a concerned look, but slowly let's go of me and helps me up. I looked around the room, observing what had happened since my black-out. Fox had won his spar against Eagle and Wolf was lying down and breathing hard a couple of feet from where I was. Speaking of which, "What was wrong when you went to go sit down, Snake?" He looked at me, surprised by my question. "Cub, in our fight, I'm pretty sure you bruised my ribs. Honestly, If you had done what you did again, it might would have been enough to crack them." I looked up at him, I hadn't known I had done that much damage. "I'm sorry", I tried but, Snake just shook his head, glanced up at something and said that it was time to go back to the cabin. After our first conversation there wasn't a word between us.

As soon as we have reached the cabin, I head inside and sit on the edge of my bed. After kicking my muddy shoes off and placing them by the door and pealing the drenched socks from my feet; I sit cross-legged on the bed and pull out the packet of papers to begin going through again. I pull the letter out first to read

Ian,  
If you are reading this letter than Helen and I must be dead and you have become Alex's guardian. If this is not the case, I ask that you return this letter to where you found it and, if you give into your curiosity and read the contents, never speak of what you have read.  
If you are Alex's guardian there are a few things that you need to know.

1) Alex is not Helen and my biological son. He was taken from his true parents just after his birth and given to Helen and I by the heads of MI6  
2) Alex is to be trained as a spy so that he will one day join MI6 and become not only their best agent, but their secret weapon  
3) Alex's real name is Collin Reed Murray. His biological parents live in Peebles, Scotland.

I know I can trust you with this information Ian, but if it were to fall into the wrong hands there would be serious consequences. Nobody is aware that I have written this for you and I would like to keep it that way. Burn this letter so that nobody, especially Alex, will ever know.  
In the short time he has been in our care so far Helen and I have come to love Alex as our own and we trust that you will take great care of him if we die.  
John

I can feel my chest tighten and my heart feels as if it is going to jump out of my chest. I can't believe it. I don't even know who I am anymore. I want to know who my parents are and why they didn't look for me. I want answers.

Setting the letter aside I see a birth certificate. The name on it reads Collin Reed Murray, born on February 13, 1998. His mothers name is Ainsley Paige Murray and the father's name is Callum David Murray. This is must be my real birth certificate, I quickly scan through the other papers in the packet and find medical records of my parents and myself. This is suddenly becoming all to real, I don't even know what to think any more. I am so caught up in the papers that I don't notice Snake grab the birth certificate, that I had set aside.

"Where did you get this?" he speaks through gritted teeth. I don't know what to say, why would he care so much about where I got my birth certificate from.

"I asked you a question, Cub."

"Why does it matter to you?" My voice falters as I say this not understanding what was going on.

"It's mine, why do you care anyway?" My voice is firmer this time. I see Snake's face whiten as I say this. The rest of the unit is confused by what is happening between Snake and I.

"What do you mean it is yours?"

"I mean that it is my birth certificate and that is my name on it. So unless you have a need for it, for some unknown reason, would you please hand it back to me? I say this as calmly as I can, I am starting to lose my patience with Snake.

"Impossible."

*****Snake's POV*****

"Impossible," It can't be him, it just can't be.


	2. Answers

Previously

"Impossible" It can't be him, It just can't be.

*****Present*****

"What, why is it so impossible that this is my birth certificate?" I don't understand what the issue is.

"Guys will you please leave us alone for a minute?" the rest of K-unit get up and leave casting curious glances towards us.

"Where did you get that Cub? Please, I need to know." Snake is speaking in a much calmer voice now. His tone is low, comforting.

"I found it in my house. It's my real birth certificate, I'm adopted." I don't tell him what really happened to separate me from my biological parents. It isn't any of his business and I have already told him more than I ever really wanted to.

"Please don't lie to me."

"I'm not, why would you think I was doing that?" I was becoming more and more perturbed by Snake's intrusive questions. I'm confused. He didn't have any apparent reason for doing this. Honestly, now that I thought about it, he didn't even really have the right. It was me who was telling him all this information. Why was I doing this?

It felt right.

"You're not telling the truth. You can't be." Eyebrows scrunched and lips puckered, Snake had a look of powerful denial on his face. "The parents' names on the certificate are my wife's and mine. The boy's is my son who was taken from us almost 14 years ago."

"It would have to mean that you are my son."

"What! This can't be right. There's no way that you're my father." I'm speaking faster my voice is becoming more and more distressed as I spoke. This situation was impossible. I knew that the person who claimed to be my father wasn't biologically and thank god for that warning, because who knows what would have happened had I found that out of nowhere. But I was still overcome by how utterly small the percentage is that this would happen. Not only knowing them, knowing who they are but also, him being the only one to see these certificates? It was so unlikely, I just can't let my hopes be brought up.

"You mean to tell me that you weren't lying about that being your birth certificate?" Snakes voice is beginning to falter and he sits down beside me on the bed. I almost wish he had done more. Maybe put his arm around me, that's what parents do, right? I wouldn't know. I've never had one.

"No! Why would I? Why did you say that you were the father of the child on the birth certificate?" I can feel tears swell in my eyes, clouding my vision. I refuse to let them fall and appear weak. Those instincts are being brought up again. These instincts caused me to change and become emotionless. Now my only purpose is to be stronger. It's been a long time since I had one of them. I can't remember the last time I had one of these types of panic attacks. It destroyed me inside. It was destroying me inside. I was fighting not to let it come out.

"I wasn't lying Cub, I meant every word I said." He slowly reaches a hand out and brushes it through the top of my hair and then carefully grabs my chin to make me look him in the eyes. Looking into his eyes, I can feel myself letting go. Not in the bad way, but letting go of all those worries, those awful impulsions. His eyes were calming.

"You are him, aren't you. Your Collin, my son." He whispers this so softly that if I hadn't been right beside him, I wouldn't have heard them. He carefully embraces me and buries his face into my hair. I can feel his tears on my head, and for the first time since Ian's death I let my own tears fall. I've never cried so hard before.

"What happened to you? Where have you been?" Snake pulls away from the embrace as he asks me this, his hands still on my shoulders.

"I've lived with my uncle up until now. Or at least, I thought he was my uncle. He wasn't there much for me. He was away most of the time though and Jack took care of me. She was the housekeeper but was really more like a sister to me." I still can't believe that it's really him. It's too difficult for me to comprehend.

"I'm fine with you calling me Collin in private, but around the others please don't. It will just raise too many questions." I say this wearily, scared at what he might say.

His hands slide off my shoulders. "I understand, but I feel like the rest of K-unit deserves to know."

"No! Please don't tell them. I don't want anything to be made worse between them and me." I didn't want them thinking that I was trying to take Snake away from them.

"They need to know, besides I don't want Wolf to continue treating you the way he does. It will also help keep the other units off your case."

"Fine" I'm not happy with this decision. But I'll agree to anything at this point, I just don't want him to leave me. I want to make him proud. I'm being overwhelmed by feelings I've never felt before. It's engulfing me, overriding me. I'm confused, so confused.

He gets a new look on his face, one of suspicion. "I don't like the fact that you're here. Why were you sent here in the first place?"

"I..I.." To my relief, before I could answer, the rest of K-unit chose to make their reappearance. While Snake's distracted by their sudden reappearance, I slip out the door and take off running through the woods by our hut. I have to get out of here. I can hear Snake call out for me, but I don't stop running, I can't stop running. I soon stop and rest against a tree. My body burns. It feels good. I take off my jacket and wrapping it around me like a blanket, shielding me from the cold dusk air. I slowly feel sleep encase my body and I'm dreaming.

I wake up. I'm in a... hospital bed? Snake is asleep in a chair at the bedside, and I can hear the rest of the K-unit in hushed murmurs outside of the door. I can see Eagle glance through the window of the door and see me, awake. He says something to Wolf, who also turns to look at me. Eagle walks away and Fox and Wolf stay outside the door. They're waiting for Eagle to come back, I assume.

Snake begins to stir and slowly his eyes open and meet mine. He jerks awake and immediately sits up at the realization that I'm here, awake, in my hospital bed.

"How do you feel?" he says, concerned.

"Fine, I guess. What happened? How did I end up here?" I reply, motioning around the room.

"When you ran from the cabin and fell asleep in the woods, you got cold that could have become pneumonia if you had stayed out there longer. Once I found you, you were brought here and have been healing for about a day and a half now. While I was looking for you with K-unit, I informed them of our situation. Collin, I just need you to know, never do that again. You had me so worried. I know that we barely know each other, but you're still my son, and I really, truly am worried about you."

"What did they think?" I said, attempting to ignore his last point.

"We are happy for the both of you and would like to apologize for the way we have treated you." Wolf said this, as he and K-unit had just walked in. Eagle and Fox hung back behind Wolf, making it unanimous that Wolf as speaking for them, and that they had this planned out.

"Umm... its fine, I guess" I murmur, unsure of what to say.

"What's going to happen now?" This question had been continuously running through my mind while I was in the woods.

The room as silent for a few seconds before Snake decided to speak up. "First of all, you're not going to be training anymore. This is partly due to how sick you had gotten and because you are still recovering. It's also partly because I don't want you to. Secondly, we need to know why you are here Collin." Snake's eyes are concerned and determined. There are no chances of backing down from the subject at hand.

"Well...um..., "I started off, nervous," I guess it started after my uncle was killed a couple of weeks ago. He was an agent for MI6. I became MI6's ward after my housekeeper, Jack, went back home to America. Then they sent me here for training before I leave for my first mission." The white sheets on my bed suddenly look very intriguing as I refuse to look at the members of K-unit.

"Why would MI6 want you?" Fox is the first one to speak up.

"It's explained in a letter from my parents. It's in the manila envelope I had last night."

"When can I leave and go back to the cabin?" I suddenly bring up, hoping to distract them from the earlier topic momentarily.

"Tonight, if the doctor says that you are ready to leave. Otherwise you will be in here for at least another day." Snake gave me a sympathetic but stern look.

Suddenly, I remember that K-unit should be in some type of training exercise right about now.

"Why aren't you in a class or something now?"

"We had an hour to spare and decided to slip in here and see how you and Snake were faring." Fox responds to my question followed by Snake.

"I have been given the time off until you are out of here and back in the cabin and feeling better. Given the circumstances the sergeant is being a bit lenient on the rules and typical protocol until we have this figured out." Snake is looking at me waiting to see my response at spending some time with him.

"Oh. Okay, that sounds good."

Wolf suddenly speaks up, "We need to leave if we are to make it to the course on time." At this K-unit exits the hospital room with quick goodbyes, leaving only Snake and I.

We just stare at each other, neither of us quite sure what to say.

"So...what happened to my um...mother?" I wince, the question coming out rather awkward.

Snake looks at me wearily; I think that I have asked the wrong question. Something not so good must have happened. I don't like where this is going.

"I think that is a story for a later date, and one I'm not ready to tell you yet. How about we learn more about each other first?"

"Sure, where are you from?"

"I am from the small town of Peebles, Scotland. What about you? Or, where have you been living, at least?"

"I have lived in East London for as long as I can remember and I go to school at Brooklyn Comprehensive School. What's going to happen once I get better? Will things just go back to the way they were before all of this happened?" I am afraid of what I might see if I looked him in the eye. I honestly didn't want know. At the same time, I wanted to know so badly.

"I'm not sure what will happen, since I need to stay here. If all goes well and I can get all the paperwork straight, you might be sent to stay with some of my family until I am able to be released from duty." Snake pauses waiting to see my response. He looks almost nervous. I don't know why.

"Wait, you actually want me to stay with you. Why?" I'm truly shocked at hearing him say that he wants me to stay with him, it doesn't make any sense. I am a perfect stranger to him. We share similar genetic makeup, that's it.

"Collin, I want you to stay with me because you're my son. I learned that you were gone when I came home from my medical school class one day and found the police at my home. When I got there I learned that someone had broken into the house while you and your mother were home. She was attacked by them." Snake looked as though he were close to crying. "They had also kidnapped you. I looked for you for years; sometimes I still would go and look through different records for any sign of you. Now that I've found you again, I don't want to let you go." Just as Snake had finished explaining this to me there was a knock on the door and a doctor walked in.

"Cub, it seems that you are clear to leave. No strenuous work for a few more days at least, or you'll be back here soon enough." The doctor said this and then with a quick turn on his heel exited the room. I don't think he looked at me once. Doctors can be so cold hearted. Snake wasn't like that, though. He was different.

"I guess we will be leaving then." I slowly get out of the bed and pull my uniform back on, which had lain next to Snake. He's standing by the door waiting for me to finish getting dressed.

Snake and I slowly make our trek back to K-unit's hut in an awkward silence; neither of us is quite sure what to say. I am distracted by the hard pellets of rain hitting my face and begin to think about this new situation I find myself in. I wonder if I will still be going on the mission that MI6 wants me to go on.

"You won't be going if I have any say in it." Looking up, shocked at Snake's comment I realize that I must have spoken out loud.

"What?"

"You're 14 and you aren't going to go and risk your life on some mission, MI6 will just have to find someone else to go."

"That's what you think." I say this thinking that I am speaking to low for him to hear me.

"What did you say?" A questioning glance is being thrown my way by Snake.

"Nothing"

"No, I heard you say something what was it?"

"Fine, I said that's what you think."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that MI6 doesn't exactly take no for an answer, they have ways of getting what they want."

"How do you know this?"

"I just do."

"Collin"

"It's how I'm here. I said no to working for them and they threatened to take away my guardian's visa so that she would be sent back to America. That's when I was sent here the first time for a couple of days a few weeks ago, I went on a mission after leaving here and Jack, my guardian, decided that she didn't want to have to deal with the not knowing while I am gone. So with no guardian I find myself back here just waiting to be sent on another mission. So if you were to take guardianship or responsibility for my or whatever then they would just threaten something else with you, most likely your career." The sad look in Snake's eyes is beginning to penetrate my walls. The silence that was previously suffocating would now be a warm welcome, compared to this.

If I keep this up, this openness, then I will get too close and might actually begin to care about him like a father. I cared now, yes, but not as much as I could, or should. If I keep being emotional like this then he would be in danger and I could lose him, I won't let that happen. I can't let that happen. I need to draw back and make him see that he doesn't want someone like me for a son.

"I will not let that happen and don't worry about me it isn't you job to look out for me."

We were in front of the cabin now before entering Snake grabs my arm and turns me so that I am looking at him.

"Collin, I am sorry that I haven't been there and that I wasn't able to find you until now. I am going to try to make this right though, okay?"

He doesn't know what he's saying. He's going to regret this later, but for now I can see that I'm not going to convince him. I just nod my head and walk inside the cabin, leaving him standing there. The cabin is empty; K-unit must still be training. I go to my bed and start rummaging through my duffel, looking for the book that I need to read for school. I hear Snake closing the door behind him, as I lay down to read my book. He goes over to his bed and begins to sort through what I assume is medical supplies. About thirty or forty minutes later I hear him say "What did I do? Or what did I say? What's wrong?"

I look up at him, shocked internally, and shake my head, then return to reading my book.

"Then why won't you speak to me?" Shrugging my shoulders at his comment, and not looking up from my book, I continue ignoring him. I hope this will be the start to pushing him far enough so that he will just let go.

"Dammit Collin, look at me when I am speaking to you and if I haven't done something to piss you off then talk to me." The anger in his voice is gradually getting worse and by the look on his face he is starting to lose his patience with me.

"I know that you don't know me very well Collin and I don't know you either but at least I am not being outright rude to you. I know that this isn't the ideal situation to meet your father in but I can't help that and we need to get to know each other. I'm trying to do this right but it won't do any good if you are unwilling to give me a chance at being a father." The hurt that he is feeling is clear in his voice. K-unit once again decides to show their amazing timing and walk in while Snake is talking. This time it isn't me who leaves, Snake calmly walks out pushing past Fox on his way out the door and closing the door behind him. Fox quickly turns to go after Snake. Wolf stalks over to me.

"You selfish little brat, do you know what he has been put through since you were taken? He has not stopped looking for you and when he suddenly finds his son, his son ignores him and won't give him a chance even though Snake is trying and doing everything he can to get to know his son, who just keeps pushing him farther away." Growling at me he grabs by the arms and shakes me trying to get some type of reaction out of me. Snake and Fox stalk back in.

"Wolf, what the hell are you doing?"

Wolf releases his grip on me and I can feel the back of my head crash into the wall behind me. It hurts.

"Explaining some things to Cub here" Wolf says this while glaring at me.

"That doesn't give you the right to grab him like that, he's my son Wolf." At this Snake steps closer and whispers something into Wolf's ear that makes his glare falter, with a quick nod he turns and walks over to his bed to sit down.

It's only now that I notice that Snake has a stack of papers in his hand, he goes to sit at a small table set up in the room and begins to sort through the paperwork. Eagle decides to break the silence.

"What's with all the papers Snake?"

"They are custody papers that I need to fill out, to be able to have any rights over you."

"Oh, how did you get them?"

"While you were in infirmary I explained the situation to the sergeant and asked him to gather the forms to fill out, while you were sick."

"Oh."

"I should be able to get through most of these today and then the rest tomorrow. Having them approved and filed could take at least a couple of weeks."

"Okay then I think that I am just going to sleep some."

"That's fine."

*****At MI6*****

Alan Blunt was furious how did the little brat found out about his parentage? This was not supposed to happen, but there are certain privileges that come with being the head of MI6 and one of those is having many strings that you can pull to get what you want.

"Tulip, arrange a car to take me Brecon Beacons in the morning I need to have a little chat with someone."

"Of course"

If the boy thinks that he is going to escape his life that I have set up for him as a spy then he has another thing coming for him. Hopefully, after a little talk with the boy he will see the light in my way of doing things. If the boy doesn't agree with me then when his father is in a tragic accident, he will most definitely be agreeable.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Alex Rider sadly. I love hearing from my reader's and the more reviews, comments, and suggestions I get the faster I write. Keep reading and reviewing, I hope to have the third chapter posted in a week or so.


	3. Confrontation

Previously

If the boy thinks that he is going to escape his life that I have set up for him as a spy, then he has another thing coming. Hopefully, after a little talk with the boy he will see the light of my ways. If he doesn't agree with me then, well, he'll be a little bit surprised when his father is in a tragic accident. He should certainly be most agreeable.

*****Blunt's POV at Brecon Beacons*****

After having talked to the sergeant about telling the K-unit about their newest member's situation, I left to go find Alex. I could talk to him alone about what might happen should he consider having any relationship with his father. There would be consequences, if so. I see him walk out of the K-unit's cabin, anger clear on his face. This could be used to my advantage. I have no idea what he is mad about, but people make poor decisions under duress. They can't think as well. Otherwise known as the perfect time to manipulate someone. He stalks off into the woods. Quickly, I follow him. Once I have caught up to him I call out his name. This makes him halt, and slowly turn around to face me. He doesn't look very pleased. I wonder why.

*****Previously in K-unit's Cabin(Alex's POV)*****

I awake to Snake gently shaking my shoulder, attempting to get me up. I look up at him.

"What." I growl.

"It's time for you to get up for breakfast. We need to live in about fifteen minutes." The agitation on his face is impossible for me to miss. Was there something I had done wrong? Just because I woke up a little bit late didn't mean anything, right? I didn't know, I couldn't. I had never had parents, I didn't know what was normal. Then again, nothing about this whole situation was normal.

Slowly, I get up and start changing. Unaware of all the eyes staring at me after I have taken my shirt off revealing the scars left from my last mission.

"Cub, what the hell?!" Fox is the one who yells this statement at me, after a moment of shocked silence, causing Snake to turn and see the scars covering my body. I freeze, panicking on the inside.

"Nothing." This wasn't going anywhere good. How could I have forgotten about all these scars? I feel exposed

"Like hell, where did you get those?" Snake is speaking to me in a calm voice that has an underlying tone of danger. That didn't make me feel any better. I was becoming hysterical, not that anyone else knew. I really had to get out of here. I really, really, had to get out. Snake was pressuring me, and I wasn't handling it very well. I could feel the sensation being brought up in me, where I lose all control. That couldn't happen here. That would bad. Very bad. But he was there, so very there. He was hovering over me and I hated it. I had to get away from this place.

"Why should I tell you? Because you're my father, is that why? So I should magically start to trust you just because you're my father. Yeah, I don't think so. You know, you aren't the only person whose life has been turned upside down from this. My life has been flipped even more than yours has. Until a couple of days ago I didn't even know that my parents, that I never knew by the way, weren't my real parents. That doesn't matter though, because I should be able to start calling you dad and taking on a name that I didn't know was mine until very recently. A name that I might not even want. Oh and let's not forget how I'm not supposed care about whether you adopt me or not, even though you are no more than a stranger to me. Well guess what, there is no way in hell that I am going to go along with this so easily." By the time I am finished with my little speech I am out of breath and feel relief flow through me as I let all of my anger go. The feeling is almost gone, too. I no longer want to break, to let go. But it's still there. The urge to just cut loose and fall. Then I look up and see the hurt on Snake's face. No, I can't let that affect me. He deserves it.

"Alex, I didn't mean to-" I don't hear the rest of Snake's sentence because I run out the door and stalk off into the woods, hoping for some peace, so that I could tear that feeling out of myself.

"Alex." I come to a halt and slowly turn around to see the face of the person who called my name, Alan Blunt. Oh joy. He has very good timing. Caught me in my best mood, he did.

"What do you want?" I'm blunt about it.

"I simply want to remind of your situation. You see, I have been informed of a certain familial realization that you have recently discovered. You will be going on your next mission Alex. If you decide not to, then your father might find himself dishonorably discharged from the SAS. He will be unable to find any work and will fall into a depression that causes him to take his own life in a tragic accident. I'm very good at predicting things like this, you know." Blunt says this in a mirthful tone, a serious look on his face. I can practically feel his joy at getting it his way. I look up at him, glaring. He had said it so confidently that there wasn't even a remote possibility of it being a bluff, so I couldn't call him out on it because it didn't exist.

"When do I leave?" I regret this already, but I already don't have a choice, and I don't feel like dragging this out any longer then necessary. I get straight down to business.

"It will be a week before we can send you."

"Fine." I watch him leave, but call out before he can disappear into the trees. "Oh, and Blunt? I want you to know that I'm not doing this for him or because you're blackmailing him." The slightest pause in his step is enough to tell me that he heard my comment. I stand watching after him and as soon as he is gone I walk over and sit beside a tree. I bring my knees up to my chest, burying my face into my knees. There's so much pressure on me. I constantly have to have a mask. Taking the mask off and letting everything go felt good. It wasn't the same as when I let go during a fight, then it's almost painful, the way I wake up in confusion, having no idea where I was and I am with someone hurt or laying on the ground moaning beside me. I wonder if that was part of the reason Blunt wanted me; because I could hurt someone without even knowing about it. Who was I kidding, of course it was. I don't want this life as a spy, never did, and I don't think Snake wants me to be a spy either. I don't even trust Snake that much, we've only just met. Why did I care what he thought about it? I wish that I could put blind trust into him and let him adopt me, but I can't. I can't let someone risk their life just for me. Snake would lose everything just for some worthless brat like me, and I'm not worth it.

"Collin."

*****Snake's POV after Alex walked out of K-unit's Cabin*****

All I can do is stand there, speechless, as I watch Collin walk out. I can hear Wolf talking to me, but I'm barely listening.

"Why are you letting him treat you like that? You haven't done anything wrong." I ignore him and finish getting dressed as quickly as I can. I run out of the cabin yelling to the rest of the unit that I'll meet them in the mess hall for breakfast.

As I walk out I see the person whom I believe to be Alan Blunt, the one who caused a lot of my problems in the first place, walk into the woods. I follow my gut and sneak after him into the woods. I have a feeling that Collin might be there. When Blunt stops walking, he is standing in front of Collin. I quietly go and stand beside a tree out of their line of sight but close enough so that I can hear anything that is said. The more I hear, the angrier I get. Him telling my son all of these things just for a mission. I won't stand for it, I am not going to let him keep my son from me or convince my son that it is better for the both of us if he stays away from me. After Blunt leaves I watch as my son curls up beside a tree at first I think he's crying, but then I hear him mumbling to himself about how he doesn't want to hurt anyone. Was he supposed to hurt someone for the mission? Slowly I walk over to him and kneel down beside him.

"Collin."

*****Back to Alex's POV in the woods*****

I look up to see Snake and I quickly wipe the emotion off my face and look at him. I see only concern in his face, even after all of those horrible things I said to him he still seems to care about me.

"Collin, don't believe a word he said to you." I look up bewildered, confused about what Snake is talking about.

"What?"

"I heard everything that Alan Blunt told you just now, and don't think for a second that I am going to let you slip through my fingers again because of the likes of him. I know that we have our issues to work out, but we need to make sure that you are safe first Collin, and then they will be worked out. That I can promise you. If you want me to start calling you Cub again I can, or I'll even call you your old name if that makes you feel better. Listen to me son, I would do anything for you I would even more from my home in Scotland if I thought you would be happier where you are living now." I can hear the truth in his voice and his statement. He honestly thinks what he is saying is true.

"How can you do all that though? If I defy Blunt then he will take away your career, I don't want that to happen to you because of me."

"None of that matters to me. I will make ends meet and everything will work out the way it should. Just look me in the eye and tell me that you don't want anything to do with me and I will abandon the adoption plans."

"I don't want to have to go on missions anymore, but I don't want to have to worry about you because you decided to try and look after me."

"Then don't worry about it. Just let me take care of everything, I can tell that it is difficult for you but I need for you to trust me otherwise this will only be more difficult."

"Okay."

"What was that?" I can see the look of shock and amazement cross over Snake's face at my response. If I am ever going to have a chance of getting out of Blunt's grip, then Snake is my chance and I am taking it. Maybe it will lead to the father and son relationship he seems to want so bad, and maybe it won't, but I don't see him letting me go anytime soon.

"I said okay. I will try to trust you more, just keep me informed on what is going on."

"Of course, thank you." He then grips me in a tight bear hug.

"Wait. Blunt is sending for me in a week, for my mission. What will happen then?"

"I don't know yet Collin, but I am not going to let you get hurt anymore and put yourself into that kind of danger." The firm tone in his voice assures me that what he is saying, he believes to be true. I don't trust him. I mean, I do, but I'm not disillusioned. I can hope and pray all I want that I'm getting out of here, but that doesn't mean I will.

"Come on then Collin, let's head back to camp before they come looking for us." Snake holds out his hand to help me up. He looks so happy, so proud and assured. I would hate to unveil the truth of the situation. Once we are both upright we begin walking to the mess hall for breakfast. An awkward silence falls over us, neither of us are quite sure what to say.

"What will I be doing today?"

"You will be staying in the cabin and resting, so that you can heal quickly." The sheet drapes back over us.

When we walk into the mess hall and grab our food, K-unit's eyes follow us the whole time. Once we have sat down the questions start flying at us.

"Where were you?"

"What took so long?"

"Are you okay?"

All these questions were thrown at us all at once. I bow my head and dig into the grub, ignoring their questions. Snake decides to grace them with an answer. Tuning their conversation out, I begin to think of Snake and if he was just saying things or if he was actually going to do something about my situation with MI6. I feel Snake tapping my arm, and looking up I notice that the rest of the unit is gone.

"If you're through, let's head on back to the cabin."

"Okay." I had forgotten that Snake was also allowed to stay with me until I was able to participate in the normal camp activities. I was fine with that.

"If you don't mind, I am going to let you go to the cabin and I will just meet you there later. I have some things to take care of."

"Sure, What is it?"

"I need to talk to the sergeant about the new information on our situation from this morning, see if he can give me any help."

"Okay then. I'll see you later." At this we part ways. When I am finally in the cabin I grab my phone from my bag and call Tom. Then I look at the clock, it's the middle of the school day. I shouldn't call him right now and texting won't be any good for this conversation. I chuckle a little imagining, Tom's reaction to everything that has happened to me in the last week. He overreacts to things.

Once again, I pick up my book for school reading and before I can get through this one chapter my eyes are drooping and soon I am fast asleep.

*****Later*****

It must be late because I wake up to K-unit loudly making their way into the cabin. I look at Snake and see him looking over some paperwork. This is when I come to the decision that if I want to know if I can depend on Snake then I will let him come to me, once he has a solution for our predicament. It's not like my pestering him about it will actually do any good.

*****Throughout the week*****

I keep waiting for him to approach me, and to come talk to me, but it never happens. Tomorrow I am being picked up and taken to go on the mission. He has less than twenty-four hours to figure out a solution. At this point though, I have lost almost all hope that he will actually come through for me.

If he hasn't by now then why would he?

Does he even care?


	4. Faith

Previously

*****Throughout the week*****

I keep waiting for him to approach me, to come talk to me, but it never happens. Tomorrow I'm being picked up and taken to go on the mission. He has less than twenty-four hours to figure out a solution. At this point though, I have lost almost all hope that he will actually come through for me.

If he hasn't by now then why would he?

Does he even care?

Present

It is now 5 o'clock in the morning and I am getting dressed in the pitch black cabin where the rest of its residents are still asleep, unaware of what's happening. I've already packed my bag and now I'm just grabbing my belongings. I have to sneak out, hoping they don't notice me.

I waited a week for Snake to show some sign that he was truly trying to help me but he hasn't done a thing, and now I have to leave for what will most likely put my life in danger. It could be the last thing I do. I wanted so badly for Snake to come through and help, but I guess a part of me always knew that what he said was just too good to be true.

Walking through the camp, part of me wants to stay in this safe haven. The other part of me wants to get as far away as possible from this place; from Snake and the rest of K-unit and their lies. There is a car waiting for me just outside the gates of camp. Slowly, I climb into the car, putting my duffel in the seat next to me.

The car ride is silent. I am left to my thoughts, wondering what lunatic I'm going to have to stop from taking over the world this time. Nodding off to sleep, I am left to my dreams. I wish that I hadn't been though.

(Dream)

I am sitting on the edge of a cliff, looking down at the water hundreds of feet below. I can hear voices calling out to me, they sound oddly familiar. Looking to either side of me I see no one. I twist my body to look behind me. Jack is crouched behind, I barely have enough time to acknowledge her presence when her arms shoot from her sides out toward me, pushing me over the cliff's edge. The air whooshing past me burns my face, crashing into the water my lungs fill with water. I can't breathe. Sinking further and further down, the more I kick my legs and push my arms trying to swim to the water's surface; the faster I sink. A man's figure comes close to me he thrusts his arm forward trying to latch onto my hand. The man's face becomes clear to me and his hand slips away letting me go. Just like before.

I am thrown from my dream, really it was more of a nightmare, by the cabbie calling out to me.

"Get out kid, we're here!"

Placing a cold, emotionless mask over my face, I climb out of the car tossing my duffel over my shoulder. I have to make this facade perfect. Mindlessly, I go through the motions of making my way into Blunt's office and getting my mission assignment. I pay attention. Sort of. I finally become aware of what is happening when I am guided into Smither's office to be given my gadgets. I am given a Ski suit that is apparently bulletproof that is paired with some infrared ski goggles. He also gives me an ear stud that's golden and is explosive. Next he passes a CD Player to me that has a panic button that sends out an alert if the fast forward button is pressed three times. The CD Player can convert into an electric saw when I insert a special Beethoven CD. I also got a copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets that has a gun built into the spine and a tranquilizer dart that can be activated when the author's name is pressed.

After gathering my gadgets from Smither's, I am led to a car where I am then driven to the nearest airport. Looking at the plane ticket that I had been given earlier, it says that I am heading to France. Making my way through airport security, I begin searching for the place I need to be to board my flight. There is still a couple of hours before I am supposed to board the plane, so after getting to the place I need to be I take a seat. I begin pondering what has happened and my opinion of my supposed 'father'. I still don't have a tight grasp on the situation, and I still can't shuffle through all these feelings. These foreign, unknown, feelings. I don't trust him. I know that much. At this point I don't think that I could depend on him for anything anymore. I don't particularly want to either. If he didn't think he could find a way to get me out of this situation, then I wish that he would have just told me instead of keeping me in the dark.

"Collin" I hear that name called out and I begin looking for the owner of the voice. My eyes fall upon Snake, who is dressed in civilian clothing and is carrying his own luggage. I can't possibly imagine why he would be here. This means I can't even relax here. I have to keep that stupid mask up. I just want one moment of peace. A moment just to myself in this chaotic life that I live. Is that really too much to ask? I've given so much. I just want to take, just this once.

"What are you doing?" The words come out harsh and cold. Just as they were meant to.

"I told you I was going to find a way to keep you from going on that mission. Come on, we have a flight to catch." Right now I have two choices: risk my life, and maybe die on a mission. If I do live, I'll continue to be blackmailed into putting my life in danger. Or option two, of getting on a plane and going somewhere possibly safe with a man who just happens to be my father, who at the moment I don't trust or feel like I can depend upon.

With a quick nod of my head, I pick up my bag and follow Snake's lead. It's not a very hard decision. He might even be pulling through on his word. Doesn't mean I trust him.

"Here's your boarding pass and passport, don't lose them." I notice that the flight we are getting on says that we are heading to Ireland. Why? Family? I voice my thoughts.

"I thought you were from Scotland."

"I am, but there are some people we need to speak to in Ireland and this will help keep anyone who starts looking for us off our trail."

Our conversation, if you can call it that, comes to a halt when we begin to board the plane, neither of us says anything until after the plane has taken off.

"Why aren't you at Brecon Beacons? How did you get out?"

"I have taken temporary leave for now and once we are safe I will send word to the sergeant to file the paperwork that I have left with him for me to officially leave the SAS."

"What are you planning on doing after that?"

"Probably take a job at a local hospital. I'm certainly qualified enough. Once the plane lands in Ireland, we will need to keep our heads low until I can meet up with an old friend of mine to get some papers from him. After that we'll board a boat that will take us to Scotland. That's the plan at least." He keeps his voice below a whisper, I can barely hear him even though I'm seated next to him and he's whispering directly in my ear. I assume that the papers he mentions has to do with our legal situation.

"I'll tell you more once we are in a private and secure place."

After a couple of minutes of neither of us saying anything, I pull out my iPod and some ear buds and tune everything out as much as I can for the rest of the plane ride. Maybe I should just talk to Snake long enough to learn about his plan and then once we are in Scotland I can begin ignoring. That way he might understand that I still don't like him very much now. Part of our deal was to include me in his plans. He never said a thing. Leaning my head against the window, I watch the world pass by. I can see houses, but cars are a bit skeptical, and people are impossible. Just like in the real world, I suppose. Honestly, right now, I wish I could just stay up here forever. Just watching the world pass by. I can see a rain cloud. It's fascinating. Seeing a rain cloud over a whole city, all of the rain concentrated on one place, and me having an overhead view? It's amazing. I'm glad I'm not there.

Once the plane has landed and Snake and I have exited the airport, we grab a cab and it takes us to what appears to be a farm. I have no idea why we would be here. Honestly, I'm starting to doubt why I followed Snake in the first place. Snake pays the cabbie and passes me my bag, after I have reluctantly climbed out of the cab.

"This is my friend's house, he said that he'll be off work at around seven. We need to be on the boat by 8:30 tonight. It's about 5:00 now, I guess I have a couple of hours to explain what's happening and answer any questions."

"Start talking."

He gave me this... look. It wasn't exasperated, but instead it was kind of... sorrowful? Asking for forgiveness, almost. Yeah, he wasn't getting that anytime soon.

"When my friend comes here tonight he's going to have some papers for us. The papers are a passport with your birth name, ID, birth certificate, and basically all the legal paperwork needed so that if anyone checks, I am your father and I am your guardian." Well yeah. It was true. Of course he was my father, why did he feel the need to announce it? Why didn't he just use the stuff we already had? The stuff that let us discover who I actually am. Whatever, probably out of date, I still didn't like this situation. Just as I am about to protest that I will have to go by the name that wasn't my name for the last fifteen years of my life, Snake speaks up.

"I know that you don't like the situation, but we don't have much of a choice. You will need to go by Collin Reed Murray, at least in public. When we are in private I can call you by you old name if that's what you really want. Also, since people will need to think that we are father and son, you will need to refer to my as something like dad or father. It's for your own good. When we are in private though, you may call me by my first name if you want. I'm sorry, but it'll have to stay this way until I'm absolutely positive that you are safe from MI-6 and that they can't get to you anymore. Again, I truly am sorry. Now do you have any questions?" I did. He explained a lot, but he didn't say everything. I also had questions I knew would go unanswered because of his ridiculous thought that he could protect me trough naivety. I wasn't even going to waste breath asking those.

"Where are we staying?"

"My family has some land in Scotland that is abandoned and there is a small house that is secluded and surrounded by woods. We will be staying there until it I believe it is safe, then we will move into my house in Peebles, Scotland. When we get there we won't be going anywhere for a few days. My mother will stop by to drop off some food and other things that we might need. She thinks I'm just taking a break from work. You won't be allowed to leave until everything is settled, and in that time. I'll be looking for a job at one of the local hospitals." I nod my head at this. Once again, I put my ear buds in and start blocking Snake out. I don't particularly like being locked in a cage, no matter what the reason. Before I start my music, I can hear him sigh and I see him shake his head at me. That's fine. I don't mind.

About an hour later I'm reading, earplugs out and on the desk, when I hear the front door unlock. I put my book down and peek out of the room. Snake is standing in the entryway talking to a man. After being given a file the man nods to Snake and then looks towards my direction, nods his head and goes up the stairs. Snake quickly walks back into the kitchen where I am seated and grabs his bag.

"It's time to leave. We have about an hour or so drive to the boat's dock. We're pushing time as it is, it took my friend a little longer than we had previously expected to get the papers in order. A cab is waiting outside, come on." Quickly shuffling out of my seat, I grab my bag and quickly follow Snake towards the cab.

The drive to the boating dock is silent, just as our times together usually are, as of late. I notice Snake using a flashlight to look through the documents that his friend gave him. When we arrive at the boat dock, Snake leads us to an old fishing boat. There is a man standing on it who looks slightly familiar. He walks over to Snake and gives him a hug. After releasing Snake from the hug he looks over towards me.

"Callum, it is good to see you again lad. I am happy that you came to me for help. Is that him?" The man asks with a light Scottish accent.

"Yeah, that's him."

"He looks just like her." He said it so fondly. Who as this man?

"I'm sorry but who are you?" My curiosity finally won out and the question came out a little more blunt than I would have liked. I don't really like being talked about and not being addressed. I'm right here.

"Collin this is your mother's father, your grandfather." The shock must have been evident on my face, because now I'm suddenly being pulled into a tight hug by the man. When he let's go he says, "You can call me Jacob for now child, if you'd like." I dumbly nod my head, I had been so unprepared to meet my family tonight. It was a gift, now that I thought about it. I was denying Snake as my family because he hadn't kept his promise, but I had nothing against this man. Maybe I was being a bit too hard on Snake.

"Callum, you might want to go ahead and take him below deck before anyone sees you. We will be leaving the dock soon and should be in Scotland in about three hours."

"Okay, and thank you for this. It was a lot to ask of you."

"No it wasn't, not for family. It isn't an issue at all." Snake just looks at him for a minute and then leads me below the deck.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I actually quite liked the surprise, and my voice was just questioning, not blaming.

"I didn't know how you would react to meeting family tonight and it wasn't like there was another option that was dependable and trustworthy."

Oh. So it hadn't been for me.

I just shake my head and go to sit down in a corner.

"You might want to get some sleep, when we get to Scotland we are going to have to walk a couple of miles until we get to the meeting point where another car will be waiting to take us to our new home."

"Oh and will there be another surprise meeting with another family member there?" My words come out harsher than they should have been.

"Yes, actually. My mother will be there and she will also be helping us a lot until we can safely be in public." The frustration in Snake's voice is almost tangible.

"Why am I expected to just keeping welcoming strangers into my life with open arms? I don't even know these people." I thought that I had spoken these words too soft for Snake to hear, but I was mistaken.

"You are expected to welcome them into your life because they are your family and they are trying to help you. They didn't have a choice in whether or not they got to be in your life as you grew up. None of us had a choice in the matter, if we had then we would have been in yours this whole time. You might not like me now for whatever reason but you have no reason to be rude or mean to them." I knew that. And I wouldn't be. I would be neutral to them. They meant nothing to me. "There may be other people in our family that would like to meet you and you just need to learn to live with the fact that you have a family that wants to be part of your life and that cares about you." The look on Snake's face is telling me to back off because it is all he can do to keep from losing his temper with me now, so I decide to shut up for now. Snake takes a deep breath.

"What do you want me to call when we are in private?"

"Alex, my name has been Alex for the last fifteen years of my life."

"Okay, Do you care if the rest of the family calls you Collin or do you want them to also refer to you as Alex?"

"They may call me Collin if that is easier." I'm starting to just not care anymore.

"It is, thank you."

I can tell that the boat has left the dock. Once we have been in the ocean for an hour or so I hear the door leading below deck open.

"We should be in Scotland in a couple of hours, it looks like easy sailing from here." The door closes once again, I notice that Snake has fallen asleep. Quietly I get up and head upstairs to deck.

"What are you doing up here lad? You should be resting." Jacob's casts a questioning look at me.

"Couldn't sleep, and I always thought that the waters were calming at night."

"On nights like this they are. Tell me about yourself." I am caught off guard by this question, I don't know why. I should have expected it.

"Back in England I liked to play football, and I love running."

"Your mother loved to go for long runs when she needed to think."

"That's why I do it sometimes. I should probably head back down before Callum wakes up." I, for some reason, didn't like hearing about my mother. it made me uncomfortable.

"Okay. Go easy on him son, he is trying to make things right." I nod my head at his words and try to figure out what he means by them. I wasn't treating him badly. I just wasn't associating with him. I head back down below deck and sit back in the little corner that I had previously occupied.

I must have fallen asleep because next thing I know is waking up to someone shaking my shoulder rather roughly.

"Alex it's time to get up, we need to leave now." I groggily get up and gather my belongings, after saying goodbye to Jacob. Snake wasn't kidding when he said we had a long walk. We must have walked for almost an hour when I hear Snake say that we are here. I look up and notice a woman getting out of a small car parked off the side of the dirt road. The woman runs up and hugs Snake.

"It's good to see you again son. I have made sure that the house is ready for the both of you. Is that him?"

"Yeah mum, that's him." Before I know what is happening I am in a strong hug from the woman who must be my grandmother. After a minute or so she let's go of the embrace.

"He looks just like her, dear. Come on we need to leave."

After climbing into the car and heading towards wherever the house is, Snake's mother speaks up.

"You can call me Ann if you like dear."

"Okay." I lean my face against the window. I can hear Snake and his mum whispering but they aren't talking loud enough for me to know what they are talking about. The car comes to a stop in front of an old rickety gate, Snake jumps out to open it and once the car is past it he closes the gate and climbs back into the car. After about thirty or so more minutes of driving through the woods the car comes to a stop in front of a small house that looks to be abandoned. We all slowly climb out of the car and walk up the stairs. Snake leads me to my room after I bid Ann a goodnight and tells me that he is going to make sure she makes it out okay and that he will be back in about a half hour.

I'm not sure what to think now, everything is a bit overwhelming. I will have to wait till morning to explore the house and the land that it's on.

*****Snake's POV*****

Once I made it back to the house, I am just about to head upstairs and get some shut-eye when I hear Alex talking in his from his room. I quickly go to his room and notice that him tossing and turning in his bed, mumbling incoherent words, and beads of sweat are forming on his face. I walk over to him and kneel beside his bed, I start carding my fingers through his hair and whispering to him that he is safe.

Finally, he calms down and the nightmare seems to have passed. Slowly I stand up and with one last glance I walk out of the room. It is better if he doesn't know about this for now, he is reluctant as it is to be around me I don't need him knowing that I saw him in such a vulnerable state. It would probably make him freeze me out of his life more than what he is trying to do already.

Hopefully I can talk to him tomorrow and figure out what his issues are so that we can start resolving them. I also need to make sure he stays away from the cliffs, hopefully I can warn him about them before he inevitably ends up at them.


	5. Accident

Previously

Hopefully I can talk to him tomorrow and figure out what his issues are so that we can start resolving them. I also need to make sure he stays away from the cliffs, hopefully I can warn him about them before he inevitably ends up at them.

Present

Slowly opening my eyes, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings, I remember everything that has occurred in the last twenty-four hours. I knead my face, my hands clenched in fists. This is a bad situation. I am in a different country, with a man whom I barely trust who just so happens to be my father. Oh, and before I forget, I met my grandparents last night, or at least two of them. Neither of whom I remotely know well enough to trust yet. This was not the best thing to wake up to. I was already in a bad mood.

Standing up, I notice my duffel laying on the floor by the door. Well I did need to change out of these clothes. After changing I quietly make my way downstairs. At the bottom, I notice the kitchen to my left and Snake sitting at the table.

"Come, sit down." I'm walking over towards an empty chair at the table before I can even think of saying no. What was this going to be about? I didn't feel like dealing with this so early.

"How did you sleep?" His question is so relaxed and normal sounding, in fact it's one of the most normal things that I've heard in a while. It was nice. Nicer than my awakening.

"Fine." There wasn't much to elaborate on. Has anyone ever answered that question with anything other than fine?

"For today the plan is to relax, unpack our stuff since we'll be here for the foreseeable future, and then you can go look around the house or the property around here. Don't wander out too far, there will be people looking for you by now and if the wrong person sees you then, well, I can't tell you what would happen. " He looks up at me for the first time since I sat down. He doesn't look so great; weary and tired. Just like me.

"I'll be careful." I say, if not just to satiate him.

"There are apples and bananas over on the counter if you want one for breakfast. Glasses are in the cabinet and juice is in the fridge. If you want something to drink, help yourself. Alex, please just remember that this your home."

"I will." I won't. This isn't my home. This is a house. Simply shelter.

I get up out of my chair and grab and apple before heading back upstairs to my room without another glance directed towards Snake. Once I'm in my room I let out a breath that I didn't even know I was holding in, setting the apple on the dresser after taking a bite out of it. I'd have to remember to grab it when I went for a walk later. I wasn't in the mood for dealing with all of this, and honestly needed to get out of the house, or at least stay away from any human interaction except those inside my head. Though I generally tried to avoid those, too. I pick up my bag from the floor and toss it on my bed. From there I begin unpacking, wondering whether this is what is was going to be like the entire time. Unpacking takes all of ten minutes. It's a pity. I wanted to waste more time. Sitting on my bed I contemplate what I wanted to do next. Running sounded like a good option.

I change into shoes that are more appropriate for running and race out of my room and downstairs, before I can get out scot-free, Snake stops me. Great. Just who I had attempted to avoid.

"Where are you going?"

"Out, to look around. You said I could." He squints at me a bit and gives me a suspicious look, but sighs and steps out of my way.

"Be back by 1:00 pm for lunch." He says glancing down at the watch on my wrist, as if telling me that I won't have an excuse if I don't come.

"That's fine, can I go now?" With a nod from Snake, I'm out the door and I can only just hear him call out for me to be safe. I'll be fine, he shouldn't be worrying about me. He should know me by now.

There's a nice trail leading out from the backyard, I saw it out my window earlier.

I run. The area is surrounded by thick trees and that makes me all the less worried. This place could easily be my heaven as of now. It was exactly what I needed; a place where I can be at peace, not have o worry about anything, and a place to wear myself out. Especially the last one. I wanted to get my mind off of all that was going on, and the only way to do that was to make myself lose focus of everything in my mind. If I got myself to only concentrate on running, then I couldn't concentrate on everything going to chaos around me. I couldn't do this normally, it made me lose focus of my defenses as well, made me panic if I was in a tight spot. I couldn't be myself around anyone. Almost ironic, the way it works. But I realize that I was in a happy place. The only things I have to worry about here are low hanging branches and roots coming out of the ground. A couple of breaks are made. Once to retie my shoes and another to check the time: 11:30.

Suddenly I come to a halt. I thought I saw movement from my left. There shouldn't be anyone this far out. Not randomly in the woods, there was no way any human could have found me. Looking around I take in everything looking for any sign that would show that something or someone was following me. Not noticing anything I start running again, this time though I am much more aware of my surroundings, glancing around me, aware. That's when I hear it. A loud, threatening growl coming from behind me. Well then, there really is no human who followed me out this far, just some wild animal who wants to eat me, is all. I see an opening up ahead and know that getting through that might be the best option in this scenario. Thinking back on it, I probably should have listened.

I take off running faster than before, adrenaline is now pumping through me as I race towards the ever closer parting of the trees. When I break through it I see that it's a dead-end with a cliff's edge being the only escape. I go to the edge and turn facing the animal, which looked kind of like a lynx or some type of larger than average cat. It slowly makes it way closer, continuously growling. I look behind me at the cliff and notice that the there is a ledge right below it. Of course. This would happen to me, wouldn't it?

Without a third thought I quickly scramble down to it, hitting my head on the way there, and just as the lynx runs toward me ready to make their kill, my feet touch the ledge. I am successful and will not be killed today. Not by some big cat. I can hear the lynx above growling. After about five minutes of staring up at it, he walks away.

Testing the cliff, I sit down, deciding that its best to wait for Snake to hopefully come looking for me. It might have been a good idea to bring some sort of communication device. It is going to take forever for someone to find me. Since I can't jump because I would likely be impaled by rocks and I can't go up because when I tried to grab the edge, some of it gave way which means that should I attempt to put most of my body weight on it then I would fall and still be impaled by rocks. So I think that I will just sit here instead, nice, calm, and not impaled by rocks. Sounds like a plan.

I go to lean back on the wall behind and I place one hand behind my head for support, I feel something wet, and I pull my hand back to see what it is and notice a burgundy stain on my hand. Blood. Suddenly, I feel dizzy, all the adrenaline and blood loss combining into a maelstrom of confusion and pain. I quickly pull off my jacket and fold it, then place it behind my head applying pressure hoping that I can slow down the bleeding until I can get some help.

Glancing down at my (bloody) watch I notice that it is almost 1:00. This means that hopefully Snake will start looking for me soon.

My head is starting to hurt more than before, the pain is noticeable now and I am starting to feel tired. Blood loss, I've suffered through it plenty times before. It doesn't get any easier, though.

I doze in and out of a sleep like state when I hear my name being called. This makes me a lot more alert then I was a couple of seconds ago.

"ALEX!" Hearing my name once more, I realize that the voice behind it is Snake. Though, to be honest, there isn't much of a chance of it being anyone else.

"Snake!" I call out his name as loud as I can but at this point, it's not very loud. everything is blurry, and it hurts my own ears to shout.

I hear the pounding of his feet against the ground as he gets closer. He stops and yells my name again.

"Down here." I attempt to yell.

"How the hell..."

"Hello to you to Snake." By now I have stood up on my wobbly legs and unclear vision. Snake sees my jacket in my hand with the blood that is now close to soaking through it.

"What happened?"

"Well this crazy lynx cat looking thing decided to attack me and this was my only option, so I came down here and when I did I must have hit my head. I would really appreciate it if I could come up there, the world is spinning and I'm pretty tired."

Snake gets onto his stomach on the ground and offers me a hand. Slowly he pulls me up as I bring one of my hands up to brace myself so that I can pull myself the rest of the way up the land gives away and I fall the only thing keeping me from falling off the edge is Snake's grip on my hand. A good thing Snake has a strong grip, I'd be dead from dizziness. I can feel him bring his other hand down to grip the back of my shirt as he slowly pulls me back up.

Once we are both safely on the ground, I can hear Snake ask me to sit up. I do and then I feel a sharp pain in the back of my head where Snake is looking at my wound. I jerk away.

"I need to see how bad it is Alex." Reluctantly I move back to where I had been and let him look at it. It hurts. A lot.

"How do you feel right now Alex?"

"Tired, head hurts. A lot."

"Okay, from what I can tell by just looking at it you could have a concussion. When we get back to the house I'm going to need to clean the back of your head so that I can see if this is a deep cut or not. Until then I need you to stay awake for me, can you do that?" I nod my head. Ow. Why did I do that?

"Do you think that you can stand to walk on your own or do you need help?"

I stand and after a couple of steps that are a little to unsteady Snake wraps his arm around me and helps me walk the rest of the way back to the house. It's a bit more like dragging me back, but that's alright. He had to hold my nose to get my attention when I would start to go to sleep, but it was otherwise fine.

I was thankful for the silence of the walk. The silence, until we got home, at least, was golden.

The second he set me down on my bed and got out his first-aid kit and started working, he also started talking. I was not very pleased with this development. Especially this particular topic. But, I gotta say, the conversation started off great.

"Cub. We need to talk."

He called me Cub. Not Alex, or Collin. Cub.

So that was nice, but talking? Not so much. But hey, I could deal with it, he called me Cub.

I was still skeptical, of course.

"Cub... Cub we really need to figure this out. This issue of yours."

"What issue?" I didn't have any issues. Nope. Not at all.

"Cub, Cub you have to take me seriously. This has been going on for far too long, and it needs to be settled." I still wasn't quite positive what he was talking about, and, to be honest, was still dizzy from the walk here. I didn't want to discuss anything to do with escaping in this condition.

"Why don't you trust me?"

Oh. Oh, well that was something completely different. That was something that shouldn't be discussed while he was on the verge of going to sleep. Though maybe that was Snakes plan-to get him while he was down. To accost him while I'm weak. To confront him when he didn't have any defenses up. And did Snake really even think about what he was saying? It should be obvious by now why I don't trust you. The only thing you've done is make my life a million more times complicated than it already was, and that's a pretty hard thing to do. You've taken me away from my family, introducing yourself into that position, stealing it even. Then you go ahead and believe that just because we are biologically related, meaning that the only thing we have in common are some genes, means that you can go ahead and take over my life, giving me confidence that I never had before, only to steal it all away again. You keep giving me hope, and then taking it all away. You, to me, are scum. Not that greatest of scum, no, you may not deserve that title, but scum none the less. You are a hope-stealer, and that is all you are to me.

I thought I was just going through thoughts in my head, but, as it would appear from the shocked look on Snakes face, and the stopped movement of his hands on my head, that I talk aloud when my defenses are down. Oops.

"Oh." Oh? Oh!? What did that mean? He was silent while his hands started to move again, finishing what he had been doing: wrapping up my head wound. As it would appear, no concussion, but a lot of blood loss. He didn't say anything while doing this, just finishing, and then cleaning up. When he appeared to be done he came and sat down beside me, hands wrung together, and head down staring at them, saying nothing. Once again. Normally I would appreciate this, but I had just spewed my thoughts to him in a way that I had never meant to, and I didn't know how he or I was supposed to react. This had never happened before, and I was clueless as to what to do now.

He looked up from his hands, and straight into my eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Then he left.

Oh.

Then I flopped down, closed my eyes, and went to sleep.

I needed a nap.


End file.
